


Slower

by L_E_D



Series: Automatic Writing [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Blood, Drabble, Gen, Short One Shot, thalassophobia, very little i promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:53:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22149745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/L_E_D/pseuds/L_E_D
Summary: Automatic writing (prompt: pressure)
Series: Automatic Writing [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1373824
Kudos: 1





	Slower

It’s crazy how fast sinking actually happens. When you see it in the movies, it happens slowly, gracefully, with a beautiful view of the sunlight dimming through the water. In reality, it feels a bit like falling. One could argue that it’s even worse, because at least in a fall, you keep control of your limbs. In water, everything happens too fast and you always move too slow.

Too slow.

I was too fucking slow. I was sinking, my oxygen tank weighed a ton against my back, even as I remained painfully aware of how small it actually was. I struggled with my jacket, doing what I could to remove the clothes that were pulling me down. I couldn’t feel the cold. I knew it would hit full force the moment my panicked heart would settle, but drowning came before hypothermia. 

I didn’t want to look up. I knew what I would see; the light of the damaged submarine getting weaker as I sunk further below it. I didn’t think my psyche could handle the sight of those lights fading away for good.

I didn’t dare glance at my feet either. The edgeless cavern under me, bottomless, empty yet filled with things my nightmares recoiled from. 

I had to check around me first. Dodge sub debris, maybe spot another survivor. It took a few seconds, maybe minutes, before I noticed any human movement.

Out of the wreckage was swimming a man, a boy really, not fully grown into his teenage years. He’d clearly seen me first, doing his best to make his way to me, fighting against the current and pushing downwards. Always further downwards.

Behind him trailed a steady flow of blood, painting the water surrounding him an ugly purple. It poured from his face, his arms, his chest… It truly is amazing what adrenaline can save you from feeling.

The relief that flooded his features rivaled my own. I couldn’t see his smile under his mask, but his eyes told me enough. He reached out, grabbing my hand and clutching it like a lifeline.

Things got darker as we sunk, the panic more excruciating by the second as the moment’s pressure took physical form. 

The boy had become nothing more than a shadow, before that too merged with the ink that stained the ocean floor. The only proof of his presence, my sole source of comfort, was his weakening grip and the sickly sweet warmth that floated around us.

I began to count the seconds, to steady my heartbeat, to relax my breathing.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four…

Each second felt longer than the last, stretching against every part of me that shook faster than ever before. The fear climbed up through my throat as we continued our descent.

I saw him smile, and a piece of me filled with calm before shattering in an instant, my mind catching up with reality. I could  _ see _ . I saw the same realization erupt in his wide, terrified eyes. I blinked, just in time for something to flash by, faster than us, too fast for the water. It flew by a second time, bringing with it a flash of sharp white. The hand in mine squeeze as it trembled, and I responded in kind, desperately clinging to him, to this, to anything that could preserve a shred of denial of what was circling us.

Right then, there was a moment, so very brief, where everything stood perfectly still. My lungs, my heart, the waves themselves paused to make way for what was to come.

The boy looked at me and despite the water, despite his mask, despite the distance between us- I heard the blood curdling scream wrenched from him as monstrous white teeth sunk into his bleeding legs.

His eyes rolled back, his hand went limp, and his entire being was torn from mine, taking the light with it further below. He was dragged down fast, too fast for the water…

I left part of myself behind as I continued to sink deeper and deeper, letting the darkness overcome me.

**Author's Note:**

> being edgy to cope lmaoooo


End file.
